British High Court Order Big Internet Providers to Block The Pirate Bay

Supporters of the website The Pirate Bay, one of the world's top illegal file-sharing websites, demonstrate in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2009.

Fredrik PerssonAFP/Getty Images

Originally published on April 30, 2012 9:03 am

Britain's High Court has ordered the country's major Internet service providers to block one of the oldest and biggest file-sharing websites.

The Guardian reports that after a request from the British music industry, the court ruled The Pirate Bay was in violation of copyright laws. The site is known to be used to trade copyrighted material but it is also known to be a place where leaked government documents — like those released by WikiLeaks — are propagated.

"The high court order provoked criticism from internet advocacy groups, who likened action against illicit filesharing websites to other forms of online censorship.

"Blocking The Pirate Bay is pointless and dangerous. It will fuel calls for further, wider and even more drastic calls for Internet censorship of many kinds, from pornography to extremism," said Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group.

"Internet censorship is growing in scope and becoming easier. Yet it never has the effect desired. It simply turns criminals into heroes."

The court decision affects five of Britain's biggest ISPs and the AP reports it comes after a February ruling that "both the operators and users of The Pirate Bay infringe on the copyright of music companies."

"As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behavior to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price," Virgin told the BBC.